My First Photo

[EmmyJane]

I hope I have posted the image correctly. It's of my 3 year old daughter.

I don't have any photo editing software yet so I cant do any editing but any feedback would still be appreciated.

Thankyou

[rpcrowe]

You have a beautiful daughter with absolutely gorgeous eyes. You have captured her very well.

However, as with almost all digital images, it could benefit from a tiny bit of post processing. Many cameras (I know Canon does) come with fairly powerful image editing programs. There are also free editing programs like Gimp available for download.
Photoshop Elements is an extremely versatile and powerful program which costs a fraction of the full Photoshop program.

All image editing and cropping is personal taste! What is right for me is not necessarily right for anyone else. In fact, I am not sure that there is a "RIGHT" in post processing. I played with your image a bit. It looks a little better to me, however you and other photographers might not like it...



I cropped the sides of the image because they don't add anything to the image for me. I also cropped the top a little. My rationale behind this top crop was that I would rather see a more dynamic cropping that looks like you meant for it to be that way, rather than a crop that looks like you missed the top of her head accidentally. I sharpened the image a bit and added some contrast. Very simple steps which took very little talent and probably about two or three minutes of editing time.

I hope you don't mind my taking these liberties with your image and I am sure there are other members out there who can do a better job....

Please keep posting your images. I'm sure that we are all anxious to see this lovely child mature into a beautiful young lady. I am also sure that it will be lots of fun for you documenting her development...

[jjbacoomba]

Emily, shes a lil doll. I agree with what Richard said. Nice edit Richard. Emily, what kind of camera were you using? Did you use flash?

[AB26]

Hi Emily,
If this is really your first shot you did very well.
I am no expert portrait photographer. I took the liberty to alter your shot a bit in Picasa. You can download it for free.
To shoot portraits in landscape mode is an art in it’s own right. Using Landscape mode has advantages when shooting with flash, if you want to reduce shadows. The shadow under her chin was caused by the in camera flash in landscape mode. Try the same shot with the camera turned 90 degrees and then turned 270 degrees. Turning the camera to portrait mode will cause the shadow to be cast to the side. Experiment with it.
Keeping your subject far away from a background will reduce the effect of shadows. Some times we want shadow to give a bit of depth. Experiment with it.

She has beautiful blue eyes. You want draw attention to her eyes, therefore I cropped the picture to portrait mode. An A4 printable size. You will notice the left was cropped a bit more than the right, to keep her nose and eyes a little off centre. She is now looking “into” the picture. Seems she was eating Cheese curls before taking the shot, that does not matter because those blue eyes draw attention.
With a portrait like this always try to fill the frame, it usually has more impact. Focus on specific features, like the eyes in portraits.
Enjoy the camera, take lots of experimental shots, try different settings and study the instruction manual.
Hope this will help you a little.

[EmmyJane]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I appreciate you all taking the time to help me It has definitely helped me look at the picture in a different way. It's amazing what a bit of cropping can do.

Thanks for the info about the flash too, Andre. It just reinforces to me how much I need to be aware of. So much to learn!

I am just downloading Picasa now and will have a play around with contrast and sharpness and hopefully I will have time to post a couple of more shots that I took this morning while she was playing outside.

Edit to add: I have a Canon 550d

[speedneeder]

Hi Emmy,
I think the crop is important, but also very subjective. I think I agree with others when I say very well done for a first attempt. I did a quick edit on my own - done with freeware called GIMP. It may or may not suit your tastes, but just to give an idea of what developing an image can do - and doesn't have to cost much to do either. Keep taking photos!